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It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936The Catholic Church and Conversion
Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936The Speaker (15 December 1900)
The simplification of anything is always sensational.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936Varied Types (1903)
The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936Tremendous Trifles (1909), Ch. I: “Tremendous Trifles”
The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936Tremendous Trifles (1909), Ch. XXXI: “The Riddle of the Ivy”
In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936The Thing (1929), Ch. IV: “The Drift From Domesticity”
- Change
- Wisdom
Impermanence becomes vivid in the present moment; so do compassion and wonder and courage. And so does fear.
Pema Chödrönborn 1936When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (1997)
- Change
- Fear
I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.
Winston Churchill1874–1965As cited in The Forbes Book of Business Quotations (2007), Ed. Goodwin, Black Dog Publishing, p. 49
Dogs look up to you. Cats look down on you. Pigs treat you like equals.
Winston Churchill1874–1965Christopher Soames, speech at the Reform Club (28 April 1981), reported in Martin S. Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill. Volume Eight: Never Despair: 1945–1965. p. 304
History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.
Winston Churchill1874–1965Speech in the House of Commons (January 23, 1948), cited in The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Fred R. Shapiro, Yale University Press, p. 154
Why, you can take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together⁠—what do you get? The sum of their fears.
Winston Churchill1874–1965
We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weeaken or tire. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.
Winston Churchill1874–1965BBC radio broadcast, February 9, 1941. In The Churchill War Papers: 1941 (1993), ed. Gilbert, W.W. Norton, pp. 199–200
We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm.
Winston Churchill1874–1965Post-war years (1945–1955)
I am easily satisfied with the very best.
Winston Churchill1874–1965
The destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits⁠—not animals.
Winston Churchill1874–1965